No slack for Manning: Prosecutors to press for life

Military prosecutors intend to pursue more serious charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning despite his having plead guilty to lesser charges. The whistleblower faces life imprisonment if he is found guilty of aiding the enemy.

Manning, 25, admitted on Thursday to handing over a trove of
classified documents to WikiLeaks. He voluntary plead guilty to 10
relevant charges, carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years.

The move was a 'naked plea' – unlike a plea bargain, there is no
arrangement with the prosecution to drop other charges. It did,
however, give prosecutors the option to only purse the charges to
which Manning confessed, and proceed straight to sentencing.

But after the judge accepted the plea, military prosecutors
announced they would pursue the 12 other charges, including the
rarely used indictment of aiding the enemy. The crime is punishable
by the death sentence, but the prosecution earlier ruled that out,
saying they would seek life in prison without parole.

“Given the scope of the alleged misconduct, the seriousness
of the charged offenses, and the evidence and testimony available,
the United States intends to proceed with the court-martial to
prove Manning committed the charged offenses beyond the lesser
charges to which he has already pled guilty,” a statement from
the Washington Military District said.

The court martial will begin on June 3, with 141 prosecution
witnesses scheduled to testify. The prosecutors reportedly plan to
reveal that some of the documents leaked by Manning were found by
the Navy SEAL team that raided Osama Bin Laden’s hideout in May
2011.

Manning’s plea appears to give him little advantage in the
trial, apart from probably winning some points from the judge, Col.
Denise Lind, for not forcing the government to prove his role in
the leak and his breaking the law in the process.

But there may be more strategic consideration, explained Michael
Navarre, a former Navy judge advocate and military justice
analyst.

"He's laying the groundwork for a more lenient sentence and
laying the groundwork for a potential defense to the aiding the
enemy and the espionage charges," Navarre told AP. "You end
up with a more reasonable starting position — 'I admit I did it,
but I didn't think it was going to harm anyone.'"

Manning has many supporters, who see him as a hero for putting
his well-being on the line to expose morally questionable secrets
of the US government. The Bradley Manning Support Network has
raised more than $900,000 for his defense. A vigil in his honor was
held in front of the US embassy in London on Friday.

The case could set a worrisome precedent for free speech:
Manning’s alleged crime of aiding the enemy constitutes publishing
classified documents on the Internet, allowing enemies of the US to
read them. A guilty sentence would mean that any leak of government
secrets that ends up on the Internet, event through traditional
media, could be subjected to similar charges.